In this all-new adventure, George Low’s Tommy hero is Corporal Mike Lowry, the only survivor of SS Lieutenant Hans Hueter’s machine gun massacre. Nursed back to health by a French farmer, Mike trains to be a Commando and, determined to avenge his squad, returns to France ready to serve justice to the Nazi brutes.

Complementing Low’s story, Janek’s cover hails just that justice – a Spitfire firing at retreating German half-tracks and, as usual, Rezzonico’s artwork is marvellous, taking full advantage of the story by filling the frames with detailed backgrounds and careful shading to add depth.

Ken Barr’s dark, dramatic cover prepares and excites the reader for the noir depictions of sky battles in Auraleon’s interior artwork, as the thick paint strokes of red, blending into the violet night sky, provide a perfect contrast against the thin, smooth lines of the Halifax and crashing Junkers Ju 88.

In McOwan’s story, Sam Blake wanted nothing more than to join the RAF – even crossing the Atlantic from Canada to sign up. But when he gets there, none of the other pilots care about his aviation experience over the pond.

Then, when Blake unknowingly shoots down an Allied plane and no one believes him, he is booted from fighter squadron and put in a bomber. But little does Blake know that one of his CO’s has uncovered this accidental friendly fire and he wants Blake to pay…

David Alexander’s moody cover shows the eponymous castle shrouded in fog and forest, towering over the mountains in the distance. But is this stone beacon of light enough to protect the Allied prisoners within from a German assault?

Find out in Ferg Handley’s action packed story about Olympic medallist Marco Conte, an Italian Prisoner of War held by the Nazis in Castle Falcone. That is, until April, 1945, when The Third Reich was on its knees, and the Nazi guards abandoned the castle, leaving the prisoners at the mercy of the heartless Oberst Horst Metzner, who was fast approaching…

As always, Jaume Forns’s interior artwork is charming in its depiction of the characters, notably the smarmy, rat-faced Metzer, yet is also unswerving in its attention to the various uniforms and insignias.

In World War Two, many sons followed their fathers into battle, and Jan Solecik, K.P. MacKenzie’s Polish pilot protagonist, was no different. But when Jan’s father is gunned down by Nazis, Jan is even more eager to take to the skies, certain that’s where the war will be won.

Known for his thick, dark lines, Gordon C. Livingstone’s artwork is instantly recognised as a Commando favourite, though for this issue he forgoes producing the cover art, leaving that to Commando veteran Ian Kennedy. A stunning cover, as expected, Kennedy’s cover depicts another fiery sky battle, this time between a Wellington and Fiat CR42, though with a less brooding sky.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, John describes himself as is a "freelance comics operative", currently working as a freelance editor for TITAN COMICS, as Creative Consultant on the new DAN DARE audio adventures for B7 Media, and on promotional work for the LAKES INTERNATIONAL COMIC ART FESTIVAL and LANCASTER COMICS DAY.
John has worked in British comics publishing for over 30 years, starting out at Marvel UK, where he edited a number of the Genesis 1992 books with Paul Neary. His numerous credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine at Marvel and Star Trek Magazine and Babylon 5 Magazine at Titan Magazines, where he was Managing Editor.
He also edited STRIP Magazine and worked as an editor on several audio comics for ROK Comics, including TEAM M.O.B.I.L.E. and THE BEATLES STORY.
Most recently he is writing CRUCIBLE as a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz, published on Tapastic; and DEATH DUTY and SKOW DOGS with Dave Hailwood for the digital comic 100% Biodegradable.